Swan & Firkin

The Swan has a new menu, hence this review. New menu is full of hipster & pretentious & non British non pub food touches I could do without. On the other hand, my daughter could have done without the brussel sprouts side served with her hipster fried chicken & waffles, though she did like the sauce. Dad had bratwurst & beans so he was happy for bangers & mash substitute. But my fave beef dip sandwich has disappeared from Firkin menu. I am NOT a happy camper. I tried out the charcuterie plate (pretentious but OK if quality spread). Best part was the warm fresh bread loaf but there wasn’t enough of same for the cold cuts & 2 cheeses. Cold cuts were meh as was chedddar wedge & blue cheese. Tiny hot pickles good but so small they kept falling off the little bread slices under the table. I liked the generous number of black olives. Quite edible but for $ 22 there should at least be 2 loaves of bread and 3 cheese wedges. Oh yeah, get more wait staff. Our waitress went off to tend bar and I had to yell HELLO across the pub to get her attention for some more bread and to refill my drink. Too bad the Firkin has decided to go hipster. That’s not why we come to a British pub for a meal.

Just like the others in the chain. Good food and ambiance, but nothing to write home about.
Came for food because my friend really wanted chicken fingers. They were good, and fries were hot and fresh. I got the shepherds/​cottage pie (PO-tato…po-TA-to), it was hot and good, but I’ve had better, and came with veggies that were well cooked, and not overdone.
Our waiter could have been more attentive, and service faster and better in general, but to be fair they were busy.

I was in Toronto for two days and had an amazing last night with my friends at this place. It’s not just the great food and great atmosphere, but also the local waiter Ryan is not the usual boring waiter. He totally made my night with his energy. I would totally recommend it.

I was here last weekend for dinner. I split the London Porker (pulled pork sandwich) and chicken wings with my sister. The chicken wings were fine; a good size and an adequate amount of honey garlic sauce. The sandwich however was very disappointing. Seriously, DO NOT order this sandwich unless you really really like an overpowering taste of horseradish.
The sandwich had pulled pork, peameal bacon, coleslaw, mustard and horseradish sauce but you wouldn’t have know the sandwich consisted of anything but horseradish. It was burning my throat it was so strong a flavour. Why ruin pulled pork with horseradish? In my opinion all you need to make a good pulled pork sandwich is the bread, the pulled pork with a sweet BBQ sauce and some cheese. They were clearly trying to class this pulled pork up and fell very short. I couldn’t taste the flavour of meat at all, I’m telling you it was 100% horseradish!
My sister who shared the sandwich with me and my date who tried a bite agreed.
Let’s be honest, I wasn’t really trying this place out for the food. They have a pretty sweet patio I’d been meaning to try. The patio didn’t disappoint but I wouldn’t race back for the food and I will not be ordering the London Porker sandwich again.
Overall a cool atmosphere with a Union Jack explosion of décor and a nice patio. It’s a part of the Firkin franchise so come for drinks and have realistic expectations for comfort pub food, I’d just avoid the horseradish heavy London Porker sandwich.

great little pub, we have been going for years. Great food, pasta specials daily, wine and beer specials. The Turkey Avo club is my go to sandwich. Great staff. Always friendly, and remember you time after time.

All the firkins are pretty standard. Good drink deals, good value for your food or good bang for your buck! This one I like a lot because of the rooftop patio. Such a gem! On a nice day there’s nothing better than that with a cold beer and some nachos. Great friendly service. Can’t complain. It’s nothing out of this world but this one is lovely because of the great patio.

The atmosphere was very quaint and nice but the service was awful. We had to wait forever for them to get our bills even though there were barely any customers and the staff were mostly standing around doing nothing.

It’s a Firkin pub! That says enough already — average food and drink in non-​offensive surroundings. The upstairs patio and downstairs patio are great in the summertime. Right across the street from Runnymede station.

I would LOVE to be able to rate the food during my visit, but unfortunately, my friends and I we’re unable to order because we we’re «forced» out.
One of our friends didn’t have his ID, but the rest of us did and we we’re all majority of age. We agreed to not order any drinks, to which the waitress and bouncer agreed to, and the waitress walked us to our table.
As we were looking at the menus and had already stripped off our bulky winter jackets, the bouncer informs us that we must leave the establishment because ONE person doesn’t have ID. Oh, and did I mention we weren’t going to consume alcoholic beverages?!
I was so annoyed by this, and the fact that they waited for us to be seated irritated me the most! I will never be coming to this location again.

I love the food and the service is always good. Deep fried pickles are my kryptonite.
The new look is great, the music and sport selection are good. Beer selection is fairly good. There are frequent affordable specials that make it easy to keep visiting.
A regular haunt, and justifiably so.

Conveniently located right outside Runnymede station. Good for large gatherings and drinks. However, for someone who really enjoys food, this place doesn’t have a lot to offer. Pub food is pub food… at the end of the day, it’s only good because you’ve been drinking.
I ordered the fish tacos with soft shell tacos and honestly, it was shit. I didn’t like the s oftshell tacos at all. Tasted funny. The fish was okay, but it won’t compare to the ones I’ve had. But I had low expectations so I wasn’t that disappointed.
I’m giving them a ³⁄₅ for the nachos because it was actually pretty good. They put a lot of guacamole (compare to the other restaurants I’ve been to where you pay extra for guac). They also have a lot of meat and sour cream. It was very filling and really good for pub food.
Nothing much to say. Not the best place for food but it can do.

I just like this place. Its a chain and has the same cool décor as almost all Firkin pubs but I find the service at this location is better than most. They also have an awesome roof patio which makes for great people watching from above. Tonight we stopped in for beers and apps. I had the Buttler’s pale ale which is exclusive to Firkin. Its pretty good. Mild taste, smooth, not very hoppy but with a nice body. For food we ordered calamari which was as passable ad any other chain restaurant, Irish nachos, bangers in a blanket and some wings. The Irish nachos are awesome, think loaded fries from New York Fries. The bangers are a personal favourite. Nothing really special, banger sausage in puff pastry with spicy mustard. Its real comfort food.

Stopped in to grab some lunch and a drink while the crazy Sunday traffic died down. Had a Bloody Mary or Caesar and it was fine. Nothing super special but refreshing. I had a black bean burger which was pretty good. Came with fries and onion rings! Woohoo! My husband had a poutine with buffalo chicken that he really liked.
They have a great rooftop seating area! If the weather permits I highly recommend going up there!

came here a second time deciding to give it another chance and I’m much more impressed.
In terms of celebrating for St. patricks, this place wasn’t really fun, it was like a normal restaurant.
Food however was amazing! I had the calamari, chicken wings, and british poutine. It’s soooooo good to the point that i can’t stop thinking about it!!! Service is still hit or miss, but whatever i’ve accepted that.

Grabbed some drinks and pub grub with a pal on Friday night. We arrived at around 6:30 and it was empty, but once the hockey game started, it began to get crowded. The décor is pretty cool with the theme being the London Underground; there is a bar area and a dining section. My pal and I sat in the former with a good view of the screens showing the game. The food was your typical pub food; a-​okay. The drink menu was a-​okay; not a huge list, but there was something for everyone.
The Swan is your typical pub; it does the trick if you’re planning a casual meet up for drinks.
Good for: casual drinks, snacks

This is one of the better Firkin pubs with a spectacular patio overseeing Bloor West Village. I had the Butler’s Pale Ale for the first time. It’s brewed exclusively for the Firkin pubs, which explains why I hadn’t heard of it. It didn’t have much character but it was clean, crisp and highly carbonated with a nice golden colour and a decent white head. It was served really cold so it was even more refreshing. I got the Bacon Cider Chicken on the recommendation of a fellow Unilocaler. With the exception of chicken being a tad over cooked, I found it to be quite tasty. The cider sauce was very rich and complemented the bacon very nicely. I also had their fried pickle and thought it was a let down. The batter was not good at all. I feel like the Swan was one of the only Firkin pubs I can vouch for. Even if the food/​drink isn’t amazing, they have a great location and one heck of a patio.

This place isn’t super awesome but it’s probably the best bar between High Park and Jane on Bloor Street. The new Brit theme is kind of annoying and ridiculous but I guess it has its charm. There’s a creepy British sofa downstairs and just looking at it makes me feel like I’ve contracted some sort of disease. Luckily for the establishment (and for you) the place is dimly lit so there are no visible stains.
They have a great patio upstairs and although it gets really busy on weekends, I usually find a seat no problem. They make absolutely AMAZING caesars and their new food menu is so good. Like holy shit everything I’ve ever ordered on the menu was delicious as f*&%. Their couscous salad with goat cheese is actually out of this world amazing and filling. Their bacon and cider chicken is also amazing and I get it every time. DROOOOOL.
I would never come here if I didn’t live in the area. It’s not worth a bus token and the neighbourhood itself isn’t great for nightlife so there’s nowhere to go afterwards. But if you live in the neighbourhood, definitely make the trip! AND ORDER FOOD.

We went there a few weeks ago just to sit on a patio and have a pint. Found out that there was a special on beer — bonus for us, we sat on the rooftop section which was very busy. The interior of the bar is heavily decked out in British décor, which I kinda like. Our waitress even had a British accent! Beer was cold (and cheap) food was good, they serve a long list of poutines! Good service, would go back again.

The Swan & Firkin is part of the Firkin chain with its re-​designed and heavily British inspired décor. You better like the UK or else, the over the top Brit theme will get irritating quickly!
They serve a lot of Pim based cocktails, so if you like it or miss it, this is your place. I’ve never had a Pim cocktail, so I passed. The beer selection is uninspired. Having had the displeasure of recently eating at another Firkin location, I was hesitant about ordering food. I opted for the fish tacos (starter) and they were delicious!
My friend ordered the chicken and prawn penne pasta. She was served chicken and prawn spaghetti. Mistake? Oversight? What if you dislike spaghetti pasta (like I do)? It does not hurt to make sure that what you advertise is indeed what you are selling.
The rooftop patio is a delight! There is the covered and uncovered section (typing this out, it makes me feel and sound discriminatory!), and it’s an absolute pleasure to spend a hot summer evening outside. I appreciate how cool the servers were by letting a table of 6 women chit chat for over an hour after paying the bill without giving us an attitude!
Overall, this is a better Firkin’s experience than other ones I’ve had.

Key Features: $ 5.00 (after tax) pints of Canadian between 3 — 6, Monday to Friday
Alright — so here’s a true story.
One day, and it’s summer, you see, some friends — and myself — are sitting upstairs on the patio. We’re up there on the patio, you know, where you’re seeing outside, but there’s still a roof over you? And they have these palm trees. I think the palm trees are there for a Corona special, or something like that. There were posters saying there would be «Corona girls» if we stayed late enough. That sounded gross. We didn’t stay late.
But here’s why.
So, as I mentioned, we’re sitting at this table beside a fake palmtree. Then, wham! It falls. The thing just falls. The wait staff look at us like, «hey — don’t mess with that palm tree.» The thing is, we didn’t. So we move. Another couple sits beside the fake palm tree. We try to warn them. They think we’re crazy strangers. To be fair, I have a beard. But I’m not crazy. I was being helpful. Halfway through their meal — WHAM! Palm tree falls on them. I shrug. Wait staff figures this palm tree — it’s not a safe palm tree.
Still, they think it’s our doing. They come over, set it up again. The couple moves on. they don’t want to sit in the danger zone. No one does. It’s a danger zone. But more people come and we need the space, so back to the palm tree. My buddy? His job — his one job — warn new people about the Attack-​Tree that has struck twice already.
He does this. New people laugh. He’s three seats from the tree. Thinks he’s safe. Tree falls again! Misses the two people beside it, who were warned, and hits him! Irony of Irony! Dude is hit by the fake palm tree. So this is it. Another friend gets up, grabs the tree, starts shaking it over the edge, looking like he’s going to toss it onto the street. To be fair, it had attacked us a few times, by this point.
Wait staff don’t know what to do. Finally the rage in my buddy subsides, we all have a good laugh. Staff come over. They say don’t do that. We could shower the dust on the people below. No one likes dust showers. Well, except birds. Anyway — so another buddy — he takes his shoe off, pulls the lace right on out of it, and ties this fake tree to the fence. True story. It hasn’t fallen since. Go up to the second floor, and visit his safety lace.
We didn’t even get a free drink out of it.
But — we were allowed to come back.
So that’s the type of times you’ll have at The Swan.
Plus — cheap beer in the West End, during happy hour.